Slashdot Mirror
Identity Theft May Cost IRS $21 Billion Over Next 5 Years
alphadogg writes "A new audit of the Internal Revenue Service has found the agency paid refunds to criminals who filed false tax returns, in some cases on behalf of people who had died, according to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA), which is part of the U.S. Treasury. The IRS stands to lose as much as $21 billion in revenue over the next five years due to identity theft, according to TIGTA's audit (PDF), dated July 19 but publicized on Thursday. 'While the IRS does not have access to all
third-party information documents at the time tax returns are filed, some third-party information is available. However, the IRS has not developed processes to obtain and use this third-party information."
How much AC lame first posts cost us, preferably in LoCs
have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
That's a little over one day's spending by the US Government!
Of course, they don't take in anywhere close to that, but that's a different issue.
Several years ago, we found out some of our employees were illegal immigrants who had applied using fake SSNs and IDs. When I thought of the consequences, I realized the IRS collected FICA taxes from these people (social security, medicare) which would never be paid back to them. And if they were due a refund on their income tax withholdings, they were unlikely to ever claim them.
Why don't they double check that the forms / W2s etc go to the address on file or request additional information?
$21billion is nothing when you consider the yearly budget deficit as a (w)hole.
"Margin" was the captcha keyword :)
Right from the first page of the report: "However, in view of its ongoing efforts to improve the detection of identity theft, the IRS did not agree with TIGTA’s estimate of $21 billion in potentially fraudulent refunds as a result of identity theft over the next five years." So what DOES the IRS think?
$21 billion in savings alone would be enough to figure out a solution. I know.... I new agency-wide IT project!!
Maybe they could start by saying, 'Please'...
"You gotta ask me nicely."
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
I filed my taxes on February 3rd electronically and found out someone had already filed under my SSN. I filled out the correct paperwork and sent it in, along with opening a case with the FTC and heard nothing from the IRS until I went into my local office 2 weeks ago. I found there is an open case but that I will be lucky to see my return (approx $1500) within 2 years. I have filed my return from the same address for several years, and it was my second year filing jointly with my wife. I believe there is little to no fraud detection at the IRS, as a tiny amount of research on their part would have stopped this entire mess.
What do you mean the issue of individuals misrepresenting themselves at the polls are nearly nonexistent and none of these laws actually offer any constructive effort to prevent far more prevalent identity theft attempts.
I usually do and submit his taxes for him - it's a pretty basic return for the most part - and usually he gives me the info in mid-March. This year, after crunching his numbers for him, went to submit his federal return electronically and it came back with an error "A return for this tax payer has already been filed". Uh-oh.
Told him to call the IRS immediately and sure enough, someone had electronically filed a false tax return, with his name and SSN, but a different address. After 5.531 tons of paperwork, he's finally going to get his return sometime in October and it's put him in a bind since he had plans for the money. Apparently this year, it was quite a big problem.
Why not wait until after the Tax deadline, before paying any refunds? If there is potential fraud, there will be at least 2 unique returns, for the same SSN?
The resounding theme is "go big or go home" with federal crimes it would seem: Claim >x% year over year for entertainment, bend over and grab your ankles. File a completely bogus return after paying zero taxes for a 3k$ refund? Profit. Take advantage of an ATM giving out money? 6 years jail. Take advantage of holes in the SEC/Banking rules to the tune of billions? 1% fine.
Judging from its performance last time I was on it, I'd say they're way ahead of schedule! Bam!
Shall we try another? Ok!
They've been killing their network all along! Bam!
Ohhh... I could keep this up for hours...
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
Can't have the revenue man collecting taxes or anything like that.
I swear to God...I swear to God! That is NOT how you treat your human!
If the IRS is allowed to impose fines and penalties for tax return issues shouldn't they have the same fines and penalties imposed on them for accepted fraudulent tax returns? Simple enough - once they find AND correct the error they apply the same formula they use for the taxpayers and tack it on as NON-TAXABLE income to the correct return.
That would be some incentive for them to look into and resolve problems quickly.
Thieves stealing from thieves. Nice.
Liberty in your lifetime
Same thing that's happened elsewhere, of course. "Know your customer." Detailed identity checks on every corner. Biometrics, the works. Will it help? Of course not. Just consider that this "biometrics" silver bullet is always, by definition, easier to fake than to fix after the inevitable compromise. Yet governments are unfit to think of better ways to "do identity" than the corporates wish to offer, and they only offer what works in a cubicle farm, no matter how unfit for more general use. So this impersonation problem is going to get worse. And the rules will be tightened. And yet the problem will get worse. So the rules will be tightened again. And so on.
The US has gone down this road already. It's forced many a country (willingly) along, to the detriment of citizens everywhere --but no American cares about non-American citizens, right?-- in the name of terrorism for example. Like, can you still fly domestically without "government ID"? Has all this caught even one baddie? Well?
Nowadays I can't even get legal work without handing copies of identity cards (with the local equivalent of a SSN on them, ready for easy copying) like candy. And those cards can only be had after a week-long wait and getting fingerprinted like a common criminal. Just in case, you know. If you treat everyone like they'll be criminal anyway, "preventively", what's to keep them from caring not to go there?
If you care about this, look around you, see what other countries have done, often starting at the behest of the US, and see how pervasive the requirement to always carry some government ID has become in some parts. The Russians have had "internal passports" for ages, for it was a handy way to track people's every more, so agreed the communists. It is in fact possible to be an illegal alien within China, for Chinese-mainland-born natives of China. All you need to do is move to the nearest city without a permit. In Europe it isn't much different, and all you need to do there to get tossed in the alien detention brig is to not carry government ID with you at all times. The rules that say so, by the by, got pushed through with the argument they were needed after the "Schengen accords", which were sold to the public as "you don't need to carry a passport to cross borders". No, now you always need to carry one of those, or the credit-card-sized equivalent that cost a little less because the booklet's missing, but otherwise are the same.
Why is this important? Elsewhere, some of the worst rules for mishandling people's identities and deeply invading people's privacy are tax code rules. That's easy, nobody questions those. Or is it? Up to you to show the bureaucrats they're wrong.
Funnel healthcare coverage through? Are you still trying to sell the story about a complete government takeover of healthcare?
Sorry, but your insurance company and even your own doctor will be the one messing up. Hopefully not your pharmacist though.
e Next 5 Years
A better headline imo.
A unique way to learn a language: http://languageloom.com
85% of all statistics are made up
http://www.wthr.com/story/17861738/will-lawmakers-act-to-close-tax-loophole-for-illegal-immigrants
Illegal workers collect what's called an additional child tax credit. The credit – up to $1,000 per child – can be claimed even by families who pay nothing in taxes, in many cases resulting in a cash payment from the IRS. It is intended for working families with children who live in the same home.
Many illegal immigrants are claiming the tax credit for children who've never lived in this country.
The IRS has NO MONEY that isn't ours.
The title should have been: "Identity Theft May Cost Taxpayers $21 Billion Over Next 5 Years"
The title of this post implies an attitude that is common these days
however incorrect, that the government has any money at all or is somehow generating its
own revenue. IT IS NOT! ALL MONIES COLLECTED AND DISBURSED BY THE GOVERNMENT IS OUR MONEY!
MINE! AND YOURS! Frankly, I don't like the way my money is being spent.
that's some identity crisis. I blame congress' split personality... .
if this is supposed to be a new economy, how come they still want my old fashioned money?
Mod this guy up!
is it that bad seein a hot chick again? if i see a hot chick walkin down the hall i dont say "repost"
A flat tax would fix that problem in no time at all.
That seems pretty good. I bet they lose a ten times that on outright tax fraud where people just don't report income, and a hundred times that on legalized tax fraud (I think they call them "loopholes").
...they want their insecure ID number back.
I am very small, utmostly microscopic.
Illegal immigrants file tax returns?
I am very small, utmostly microscopic.
,"Identity Theft May Cost IRS $21 Billion Over Next 5 Years"
FRAUD may cost TAXPAYERS $21 Billion over next 5 years
ftfy
The SSN was not supposed to be used for anything but social security. And what do we have? The SSN is being used in precisely the way the "doom sayers" predicted before it all came to be. But now we are seeing where this practice is costing the government Billions of Dollars. Perhaps NOW is the time to extract some SSN abuse reform?
$21 billion sounds like a lot, but over 5 years it's 4 billion a year.
US tax revenues are what? 3 trillion a year? That's about 0.1% we are talking about.
Betcha that there are much holes in the tax system than this.
Then of course there is the question of how much the counter-measures would actually cost, and whether or not the counter-measures would actually reduce fraud rather than just cause the crooks to find a different mode of exploitation.
As usual just throwing out a statistic doesn't provide anything more than a talking point.
Wooooooo!!!!!!!!
Let's see.
Bank account theft.
Citizenship [easy].
Arrest record [cp to some other fool then rm].
Driver's license [Hawaii, Illinois, DC and where else????].
Marriage license [is he married to a transvestite and the kids are from surrogates].
Was 'Barry' a 'Barbara'? [on no not this].
HOLLISHIT BATMAN WE GOT A FAGGOT IN THE WH.
LOL
Well, because. Quick refunds are the incentive that the IRS is using to get people to pay online.
The way one common scam works is this:
1--someone steals your SSN, obtains a throwaway prepaid debit card and uses your SSN and name to file a fake return online for a few thousand dollars refund.
2--the IRS cheerfully pays out the refund in 5-7 days after verifying that the math on the return is correct, even though they cannot verify the W-2 or other information that fast. (IIRC it takes them about 6 weeks to verify W-2 info)
3--in a few days the refund hits the thief's debit card and they "spend it off" by buying money orders (so that the IRS cannot take back the money off the debit card if they discover the fraud), and then the person throws the bank card away. It is only when a second return is filed that the IRS stops everything and realizes that there is a problem.
I tend to suspect that there is not much actual incentive to fix this issue from a lot of corners, since it is just pumping even more money into the dying US economy.
The IRS knows very well how big the problem is but under the current system can't do anything to stop it, and simply refuses to publish any actual numbers.
If they really could save $21B, then you can bet they'd get the budget, because it would be profitable. This is just them blowing smoke using todays latest talking point (identity theft) to try to secure more budget.
If they could really predict how much the crime would cost IN THE FUTURE, then they'd be able to stop it. The fact they're quoting future fictional projections tells you it's a number from azz.
If you think that's a fitting headline, I don't believe you actually read the story.
The money the IRS is losing is money they paid out to criminals filing returns with fraudulent information and claiming a refund. This is ultimately going to cost citizens (both for the initial false payouts and for the costs to clean up the mess), and the only people who win here are the criminals taking advantage of a broken system.
Stop withholding money from peoples paycheck, so people don't need a refund.
What a concept.
You mean I'm not REALLY going to get that $13,000 refund check made out to my name but an alleged dead person's alleged SSN?
IRS sent me a refund notice year or so ago, asking for any corrections. I sent it back indicating the error. Few weeks later got yet another notice. Still have it somewhere. Ass cover. Check never showed up, but there was a rash of Post Office thefts and box "vandalism" in the region during that time. Now, I'm not sure how "thieves" would know when the checks were in the mail, but between the IRS and the Postal Inspector, you'd think they might be able to figure it out. :-) Nah, of course I would have torn it up, after documenting it.
Still don't know if the check would have cleared.
Whole thing is ludicrous, like the way they have shop clerks stressing out over fake $20 bills while the Fed is printing trillions in play money, all perfectly legal.
The IRS quite clearly benefits by identity theft.
Simple.
IRS claims that 'identity theft robs it of millions of dollars'.
White House Budget Office then gives IRS some 'extra' billions to 'clean up' the problem.
What 'problem'? Where is there fact checking? Where are there questions of the motives of the IRS Gestapo?
IRS is the most important 'latch-pin' in the ObamaCare Wealth Redistribution Ponzi Scheme sanctions with blessings by the US Supreme Court whose members are members of the Unelected Government of the United States of America.
Disabling the IRS and each employee [in a disabled sense] is imperative. Hurt to the Executive can be gained by the bodies in hospitals because they draw dollars form the Coffin and may not be able to be replaced.
Oh.
Dearest Obama enjoyed a day of Golf at Camp David. Land sakes. We are so relieved.
The Congress of the United States of America relinquished the bunkers in Virginia in case of nuclear attack on Washington DC in the late 90s. Obama in comparison nor his predecessors GHWB, C, GWB have given up the 'nuclear safe bunker' Camp David.
Quite telling on the psychology of Obama.
From Camp David, Obama can unleash the hatred of the US military on the peoples of the United States of America. They by duty reflect Obama's hatred of the United States of America's peoples, at his very own choosing ... and benefit.
LOL
Please take a look at this video.
It was uploaded 1.5 years ago, and has only 460,000 views. Obviously, it has not yet experienced the "Slashdot effect." Don't you think maybe, it should?
How many more years will slashdot have an off-by-one error on your Score in your profile?
How many more years will slashdot have an off-by-one error on your Score in your profile?
Your score in your profile is correct. Disable all the bonus point settings in your preferences, and you'll see the same score in the articles.